Men's Basketball

Ben McLemore wins Big 12 rookie of the week

Kansas guard Ben McLemore roars after dunking against Texas during a comeback run by the Jayhawks late in the second half on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013 at Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.

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Kansas freshman guard Ben McLemore was named the Big 12's rookie of the week, the conference announced Monday morning.

McLemore led the Jayhawks to victories over Baylor (61-44) and at Texas (64-59), as KU extended its win streak to 15 games.

The freshman averaged 16.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in the two games, shooting 56.5 percent (13-of-23) from the field and 57.1 percent (4-of-7) from three-point range. He also added five steals and three blocked shots.

In KU's come-from-behind win at Texas, he scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half, helping the Jayhawks rebound from an 11-point, second-half deficit.

McLemore leads all Big 12 freshmen in scoring and also is first on his team with 16.4 points per game. He is fourth in the league in field goal percentage (.508) and ranks second from the free throw line (88.1 percent).

This is the third Big 12 honor this season for McLemore, who was selected as Big 12 rookie of the week on Dec. 24 and Big 12 player of the week on Jan. 14.

Ben made a comment in another story this year, this is not verbatim. "Sitting out
last year definitely helped me mature as a player and ......." . Sorry I'm not patient
enough to find it, copy and paste. At the time I read it I thought " wish the staff
would copy that blow it up and view it in a place that every freshman/redshirt would see every time they entered the Phog. I have made a lot of judgements about former
players I would have liked to see stay and "grow up". As players, students of the game
and students. Ben surpasses every aspect of the ideal student athlete. RCJH